White House Abramoff Stonewall, Day 32:
By on Feb 6th, 2006 at 10:58 pm
White House Abramoff Stonewall, Day 32:
Scott McClellan refuses to answer whether the White House instructed Reflections Photography to scrub its website of Bush-Abramoff photos.
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Frist!
February 6th, 2006 at 11:17 pmIf I had been as dishonest as this admin when I was five, my mom would have sent me to my room and I would still be there sixty years later.
February 7th, 2006 at 12:18 amThis administration is where the dream of truth, justice and American democracy has gone to die.
Mark my words.
-GSD
February 7th, 2006 at 12:46 amJoin the revolution http://www.boycott-republicans.com
February 7th, 2006 at 2:36 amRove has threaten GOP Senators if they don’t rubber stamp bush on the nsa. Rove has promised free monies for nov 06 and photo ops with the grand el prez.. Corruption anyone now how do we as a country bring charges against this groupo when the AG is their El general and as for the abrmoff thing it will die a silent death and abramoff will be given the medal of honor.
February 7th, 2006 at 8:02 amBush could clear this up in an instant — by declaring that the Congressional vote to use force against Al Qaida gives him the authority to peddle influence to anybody he deems necessary to protect the American people.
February 7th, 2006 at 8:30 am“Yes I met with Jack Abramoff, and I will continue to do so as long as I am commander in chief.”
was this another, “We’re not going to participate in a fishing exhibition” excuse or something?
February 7th, 2006 at 8:58 amThis administration has such a huge credibility problem that it’s almost pointless to ask them anything because you never know if they’re lying or not. And in this instance, it almost doesn’t matter what they actually say at this point, they’ve already blown any chance that they will be believed.
People are going to speculate that Reflections did this at the behest of the White House. The president of Reflections claims she did it on her own. If the White House had initially said the same thing, that Reflections did it on their own and that the WH didn’t ask them to, this whole story probably would have died right then and there. But the WH didn’t do that; they refused to discuss the issue at all.
In a parody of their infamous “We’re not going to comment on that during an ongoing investigation,” they now say they won’t discuss the Abramoff pictures precisely because they are NOT related to the ongoing investigation! (Gee, Scott, wouldn’t that mean then that you could comment on them?)
And now, they won’t even deny that they asked Reflections to delete the pictures, and so it naturally invites people to assume that they did, or else they would just say they didn’t. And even if it turns out that they did have nothing to do with it, no one will believe them. No one should, because they can’t seem to bring themselves to tell the truth in the first place.
The country can’t take much more of these people. And neither can the Constitution. Anyone have a time machine so we can skip the next three years?
February 7th, 2006 at 9:06 amI hate to keep using this example, but can you imagine the wailing & gnashing of teeth we’d hear from the righttards if XXXLINTOON had been caught scrubbing photos of the Democratic equivalent of Abramhoff?
February 7th, 2006 at 9:19 amYou can bet that there’s still a copy and that they will come out. They’re just waiting for the appropriate moment.
February 7th, 2006 at 9:21 amThere’s alot of people that don’t care much for this imposter corporate admin.
I’m guessing someone will penny up late this summer.
Wayne,
February 7th, 2006 at 9:21 amI’d rather go back 5 yrs…
Of course you’re right when you say the WH has lost all credibility and nothing they say any longer will be accepted without question, but that doesn’t change the fact that they have the power to do as they please for the time being and there is no one in Congress who seems to be able to stop them. They don’t feel the need to answer to the public, regardless that they are public servants on public payroll, and they have sufficient numbers of allies to defend their practices.
February 7th, 2006 at 9:21 amThis was a long, insidious journey for the cabal in the WH, and it has now reached the point where their momentum is carrying them forward. Unless and until there is strong, relentless pressure from the public toward Congress and eventually toward Bush&Co. I don’t see this runaway train slowing down, and three years is a long time down the road.
It’s as clear as the nose on each of our collective mugs, the MSM is in Bushiva and L’il Dick’s pockets. Everyday it’s the same thing, the WH “press” gathers in the WH “press” room to ask questions that they time and time again hae ignored by Scott “Lyingpieceosh*t” McClellan…
…then CNN, MSNBC, Fox Propaganda, and the other corporate controlled Bushite propaganda outlets confound, confuse, and mislead the public on arious issues of the day concerning Bushite crimes…
…they (MSM) call it being “balanced”, we all know that its intended to obfuscate and confuse…
The internet may be our only hope, but they’re trying to take control of that too…
February 7th, 2006 at 9:26 amThere should be “v”’s in them there words on my preVious post…
da*n keyboard…
February 7th, 2006 at 9:28 am#12 True Blue – What was I thinking??? Of course, a time machine would work both ways so yes, let’s go back six years and get the story of the president’s drunk driving arrest out again well before the election, instead of just days.
#13 Marie – I worry, too, that it might be too late, but as big papa said below, the internet may be our only hope, but I hope there are others. We need courageous people in Congress to step up and issue the arrest warrants so badly needed and so late in coming. We need people in both Houses of Congress willing to fulfill their Consitututional obligations to put country ahead of party, and bring charges against this president and vice president.
#14 big papa – The one bright spot I see in all the MSM channels you mentioned is Keith Olbermann. Not only is he willing to point out Fox’s idiocy and coziness with the Bush Admin, he talks about the things we always say need to be talked about. I think he’ll help keep the various scandals alive (especially the way he counts the days).
As for “balance,” have you read David Brock’s excellent book “The Republican Noise Machine”? It tells the history of the rise of the right-wing in the media going back to the days when they bitched because their side wasn’t being heard. There was usually a very good reason not to listen to their side – they were lying. But they managed to cow the major networks into accepting the idea that journalism should not be about “objectivity”, but about “balance.” This was the beginning of the end. Journalists should report the facts as they actually happened, not as one side or the other wishes to interpret them. Facts are non-partisan. But the right-wing spin machine has managed to convince people that if you’re not hearing both sides of the story, you’re not hearing everything you need to hear. This was, of course, yet another lie. But that’s how they managed to get as far as they got. But they can still be stopped, I’m sure. I confess I don’t know how, but I’m sure it’s not over yet.
The truth will win in the end.
February 7th, 2006 at 9:38 amWe should not expect this administration to give us any information at all. Facists rule by might and corporate partnership, not by truth.
Il Bushi!
February 7th, 2006 at 9:49 amIl Bushi!
Il Bushi!
Not only the drunk driving arrest, but the AWOL story too. You’d think people would be smart enough to see through Bush’s fake hero crap.
The “mission accomplished” photo op on the aircraft carrier should have turned almost everyone off, or if not that, then the “plasic turkey” photo op in Iraq. What fakery.
But sadly, the pinhead and his war-mongering, taxpayer-milking gang of criminals continue to squat in our Whitehouse.
February 7th, 2006 at 10:25 amhave you noticed..no trolls?..I wonder if their checks bounced from the repub.orgs.? Ignoring them works so well…lol.
February 7th, 2006 at 10:27 amI’m dismayed at the state of our country where White House lies and chicanery go virtually unoticed and unchallenged in the main stream press. Either the MSM are sucking up to Bush, complicit in thes neo-con conspirary, or cowering in fear. I am so disappointed.
February 7th, 2006 at 11:22 amThe MSM are owned by large corporate conglomerates so they aren’t going to bite the hand that feeds them. Don’t expect them to provide you with “the news”.
February 7th, 2006 at 11:25 amWhat the reporters in the MSM who want to maintain their charade as reporters should do is start pissing off the liars and challenging them on their lies. I believe that the main reason they don’t call the liars liars is that they don’t want to lose “access” to the liar in question. Well I say, “So what?” Why do they want to maintain access to anyone who can’t be trusted? There have been a number of people in the administration who we now know told the press lies at various points. So why not reveal to the public who was telling lies and expose them? What’s the worst that would happen? They won’t talk to that reporter any more? Good! If enough reporters piss off the liars, then the liars will only have Fox News Channel to go to to repeat their lies. And since FNC only reaches about two million people, it can be safely ignored forever.
The public wins when the liars are exposed for the liars they are.
February 7th, 2006 at 11:35 amREID ABRAMOFF STONEWALL, DAY 32:
Here are a few relevant news items on Harry Reid’s ties to Jack Abramoff’s clients and to other questionable lobbying practices:
1. “[D]on’t lump me in with Jack Abramoff. This is a Republican scandal. Don’t try to give any of it to me.” [Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), "Fox News Sunday," 12/18/05)
2. "Nearly three dozen lawmakers pressed to block a Louisiana Indian casino while collecting large donations from [Abramoff] and his tribal clients. Many, including leaders in both parties, intervened with letters to Interior Secretary Gale Norton within days of receiving money from tribes represented by Abramoff or using the lobbyist’s restaurant for fundraising, an Associated Press review of campaign reports, IRS records and congressional correspondence found. . . . Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada sent a letter to Norton on March 5, 2002″ {AP, 11/18/05)
3. The day after Reid signed his letter to Secretary Norton, “the Coushattas issued a $5,000 check to Reid’s tax-exempt political group, the Searchlight Leadership Fund. A second Abramoff tribe sent $5,000 to Reid’s group. Reid received more than $66,000 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004.” {AP, same source)
NOTE: Sen. Reid did not receive any contributions from these tribes until after they became clients of Jack Abramoff. (FEC; IRS)
UNLIKE OTHER SENATORS, REID REFUSES TO RETURN HIS ABRAMOFF MONEY:
4. “[Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen] added that Reid, while receiving donations from Abramoff’s clients, has never met nor spoken to the lobbyist. And will Reid follow (Nevada Sen. John] Ensign’s example and return the money? Hafen offers only a terse ‘no comment’ to that.” (Las Vegas City Life, 12/2/05)
AND THAT’S NOT ALL:
5. “Among perks at his disposal, Abramoff controlled skyboxes at the MCI Center in Washington and at other sports venues that were used for fundraising . . . [Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said she had no comment on whether Reid has attended a sporting event in any such suite, saying Reid conducts ‘lawful fundraising.’" (Las Vegas Review Journal, 1/4/06)
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE:
6. When it comes to having children, spouses or other close relatives who lobby or work as consultants, most in Washington, "Harry Reid is in a class by himself. One of his sons and his son-in-law lobby in Washington for companies, trade groups and municipalities seeking Reid’s help in the Senate. A second son has lobbied in Nevada for some of those same interests, and a third has represented a couple of them as a litigator. In the last four years alone, their firms have collected more than $2 million in lobbying fees from special interests that were represented by the kids and helped by the senator in Washington. So pervasive are the ties among Reid, members of his family and Nevada’s leading industries and institutions that it’s difficult to find a significant field in which such a relationship does not exist." (Los Angeles Times, 6/23/03)
7. "In an internal memo, [Reid chief of staff Susan] McCue said Reid’s family members had lobbied his staff by ‘supplying research, technical support and strategic guidance.’ She described them as ‘effective advocates for their clients.’” (LA Times, same source)
8. “[B]etween them, Barringer and Key Reid have represented nearly every major industry in Nevada, from mining and real estate development to tourism and gambling to the city of Las Vegas. All of those clients rely on the senator’s goodwill on Capitol Hill.” (LA Times, same source)
9. “In a welter of technical jargon, [Reid's bill] dealt with boundary shifts, land trades and other arcane matters — all in Nevada. As he introduced it, Nevada’s senior U.S. senator, Democrat Harry Reid, assured colleagues that his bill was a bipartisan measure to protect the environment and help the economy in America’s fastest-growing state. What Reid did not explain was that the bill promised a cavalcade of benefits to real estate developers, corporations and local institutions that were paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in lobbying fees to his sons’ and son-in-law’s firms, federal lobbyist reports show.” (LA Times, same source)
10. “[Hughes Corp. VP Thomas] Warden said Sen. Reid had been ‘especially helpful.’ He also credited the expertise of Barringer and his firm, which was paid $300,000, according to lobbyist reports. ‘Why were we successful?’ Warden said. ‘It was because of the firm. They brought a lot to the deal.’” (LA Times, same source)
11. During [the same year] 2002, the Howard Hughes Corporation contributed $31,290 in soft money to the Searchlight Leadership Fund. Overall, during his career in the Senate, the company has donated $48,790 to Reid’s political committees. (FEC; IRS)
Now Harry Reid wants to trash Republicans for wallowing in a “culture of corruption.” Yet Reid himself, and a large portion of his family, all are mired deeply in Reid’s “culture of corruption.” The only problem is, Reid won’t admit it. I guess those kids of his can’t afford to get off the gravy train and get real jobs.
. . . AND REID’S RESPONSE? “NO COMMENTâ€
February 7th, 2006 at 1:58 pmI love having the last word . . .
February 7th, 2006 at 3:10 pmBSR…..snore…zzz…
February 7th, 2006 at 3:10 pmBlue State Red,
Poor Partisan brain pumpkin. Are those the same clients that reduced their payments to Democrats because of Abramoff by half? How about the same clients that were directed by Abramoff to NOT donate to Democrats. Or the fact that Abramoff had said he wished to halt all money to Democrats and starve them out.
You keep looking for smoke sweetie where there is none, and your own house is burning down. But I forgive you pumpkin. Your partisan need for the last word even when you’re clearly wrong is an example of your fear and emotionally based brain being able to process the reality you live in. I feel great pity for partisans like yourself, that would rather believe a partisan fairy tale than face the reality we live in. Poor lost soul.
February 7th, 2006 at 8:23 pmBSR, if you don’t like Harry Reid then don’t vote for him. As usual, you don’t get the point.
I want to see the pictures for myself in order to make my own judgment as to their “relevance.” That is for me and anyone looking at the pictures to decide, not the White house and not the president of Reflections. She had no business doing what she did.
I want to see ALL of the pictures taken that day with President Bush and all the people who got to have their picture taken with him. I want to see the body language the president uses when he’s pretending to shake the hand of somebody he doesn’t know and when he’s shaking the hand of someone he does know and likes a lot. I want to see if he puts his hand on the shoulder of people he doesn’t know and if he puts his elbow around the neck of those he does. I want to compare the level of personal intimacy exhibited in each picture.
If after looking at ALL the pictures taken that day, you couldn’t tell the difference between the people that the president didn’t know and those he did, then I would agree that the pictures have no “relevance”. But I am not going to take the word of Reflections, and I am certainly not stupid or naive enough to believe the White House. Are you?
February 8th, 2006 at 1:05 pm[...] The White House has continually refused to release photos of President Bush with Jack Abramoff. Moreover, Press Secretary Scott McClellan has said that if photos of the two together exist, they are shots taken at “widely attended” Hanukkah receptions in 2001 and 2002. But according to Eisler, none of the photos in Abramoff’s office were taken at Hanukkah receptions. [...]
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April 7th, 2008 at 4:15 amLas Vegas Plane Crash
I would visualize things coming to me. It would just make me feel better. Visualization works if you work hard. That’s the thing. You can’t just visualize and go eat a sandwich. Jim Carrey.
April 14th, 2008 at 2:19 am